PE.com - Tourism Blog

Green Means Go

What did I hear and read about more than Harry Potter's on stage nakedness and Sienna Miller's off-screen antics while vacationing in the UK? Being green. I heard the environmental call so much while I was there, I was surprised not to see bronze statues of Al Gore being hoisted upright into city parks.

As a tourist, the green emphasis is fairly evident. Before any lights or electrical devices can be turned on in two Irish hotels stayed at, the room key needed to rest inside a slot. Then each outlet had to be turned on. If I had to leave the room, I had to take my key and turn off the electricity whether I liked it or not. Apparently hotels in Turkey do the same thing.

Anyone seen anything like this in the US?

Another hotel in London didn't have an air conditioner but did have a small electric fan in a top corner. I may have felt otherwise during the summer, but in March it was just the right amount of needed air.

Even the owner of a small B&B in Oxford made attempts to be "green" by shifting everything I used in one room, to another when I needed to stay an extra night.

Granted their water pressure is terrible and every shop used plastic, not paper, but it was refreshing to see the effort made environmentally.

-- KIMBERLY PIERCEALL
kpierceall@PE.com